Darwin. It’s not breakfast time, yet. Go back to sleep.
Snuffle, snuffle, snuffle. Paw, paw, paw.
I can feel Darwin walking around the foot of the bed, nonchalantly pretending to be quiet but oh-so-craftily making just enough noise to make me stir. David, of course, remains blissfully asleep.
Loud yawn. More snuffling. A weighted, silent pause . . .
Here it comes.
FWOOMP.
Flying fluffy dog lands on the bed, neatly between David and I, blending right into the fluffy white duvet. I slide my eyes open just enough to see a black nose and a wet tongue coming my way for morning kisses. I groan and turn away, but it’s too late. He knows I’m awake. Awoken mom leads to walk and walk leads to breakfast. He is highly motivated. I bury my head in the pillow, knowing there is still a smidgen of hope that Darwin might turn around a few times and settle down to give me a generous extra ten minutes.
Circle, circle, circle. Snuffle, snuffle . . . snort . . .
Looking up, I see Darwin’s blocky shape towering above me, his eyes downcast towards my face . . . judging. I quietly lift my hand, watch his eyes watch my hand move over to David’s still-sleeping form. I twiddle my fingers above David’s ear, trying to be silent. Darwin takes the bait and leans over David’s head . . .
Snuffle, snuffle, KISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISS.
I hear David groan as I quickly steal my hand back and duck my head in silent victory, smothering a giggle. “Hi bud…” David mutters as he gives Darwin some scratches–a gesture that will only appease the breakfast-wanting beast for a few moments. David turns over. “Are you walking him or am I?”
A game we play every morning. A game he so sweetly lets me win too often, but I am repentant in my offering. “I’ll give you a choice. I can walk the dog. But if you walk him, I’ll make corn biscuits and sausage gravy.” David sighs . . . his inner battle between breakfast and extra sleep raging. I wait . . .
“Deal.”
Corn Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
David actually prefers my buttermilk biscuits, but I can’t get over how well the corn biscuits provide an extra element to traditional biscuits and sausage gravy. The beautiful thing about this breakfast is it really doesn’t take too long. My quick-method for corn biscuits might not be the “prettiest,” but not having to roll out and cut the biscuits makes the difference between me baking from scratch and popping a Pillsbury can.
Get the corn biscuits baking and you can whip up the sausage gravy and have it done shortly after the corn biscuits come out. Don’t overthink the biscuits when you’re forming them. I promise they’ll turn out no matter what you’ve done!
If someone isn’t a sausage gravy fan, the corn biscuits are just as good with raspberry jam or hot with butter! (My plan for all the leftovers!)
Cheers!
mikaela | wyldflour
9 biscuits - 4 servings
30 minPrep Time
30 minTotal Time
Save Recipe5 based on 1 review(s)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup milk (nonfat or whole)
- 1/2 lb ground breakfast sausage (spicy or not)
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups milk (nonfat or whole)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground dried parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Get the biscuits in the oven! In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter until a coarse crumb mixture starts to form. (You can also use your fingers and "rub" the butter into the flour or use a food processor and pulse it.)
- Once crumbly, add milk all at once and stir until just combined. Rub your hands with flour and use them to help form the dough together into a ball, adding flour to your hands if necessary. Knead 9-10 times in the bowl--doesn't need to be perfect.
- Roughly divide the dough into 9 equal balls. Roll the ball between your palms to make it smooth. Then pat it down to about 1/2-inch thickness. Drop it onto a cookie sheet and repeat with the other biscuits. Bake for 10-12 minutes until they start to turn golden brown. Then remove from the oven and immediately move the biscuits to a cooling rack.
- While the biscuits are cooking, plop the sausage into a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the sausage completely, jabbing at it to break it up into crumbles. Once cooked, eyeball how much grease you've got in the pan--I usually have about 1 Tablespoon. You want 1/4 cup of fat in your pan. So I usually add 3 Tablespoons of butter to the sausage. Adjust as you need to, based on how much fat your sausage released.
- Once the butter is melted, sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir continuously. (All the liquid in the pan will absorb and you'll need to keep stirring to make sure nothing burns.) Stir for 1 minute. Then slowly add milk, about a 1/2 cup at a time. Vigorously stir the milk into the meat, allowing the flour to continue soaking up the milk. It will seem like you're thinning your gravy too much with all the milk, but it will thicken back up!
- Once the milk is completely incorporated, stir it over medium heat until it starts to bubble. Turn the heat to low and let it cook until it is as thick as you like. The longer you let it cook, the thicker it will get, so don't leave it too long or you'll have sludge! (Unless you like sludge. No judgment.)
- Add the spices to the sausage gravy and serve over warm biscuits!
Notes
Buttermilk biscuits work well, too, if you're not a fan of corn biscuits!
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